Sign Language

News about Sign Language, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jan. 29, 2015

Jonathan Lamberton, sign-language interpreter for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, has earned an online following; Lamberton is known for his expressive, sometimes melodramatic signing style, which can be easier for some hearing-impaired people to understand. MORE

Feb. 8, 2014

Excerpts from conversations with four designers who discuss how they designed posters for several regional theater company productions of Nina Raine play Tribes, comic drama that revolves around a young deaf man, and how they took care with sign language. MORE

Dec. 17, 2013

Thamsanqa Jantjie, man who provided incomprehensible sign language interpretation during Nelson Mandela's memorial service, was part of a mob that burned two men to death in 2003. MORE

Dec. 14, 2013

South African government says it is looking into claims that Thamsanqa Jantjie, man accused of providing bogus sign language interpretation during Nelson Mandela's funeral, was also once charged with murder and other serious crimes. MORE

Dec. 13, 2013

Thamsanqa Jantjie, man accused of masquerading as a sign-language interpreter during Nelson Mandela's memorial service, tells interviewers that he is a violence-prone schizophrenic and had seen angels descending; assertions add one more bizarre turn to a story that has raised questions about the security at the ceremony. MORE

Dec. 12, 2013

South Africa’s deaf-advocacy group says the man responsible for providing sign-language interpretation at the memorial for Nelson Mandela is a fake; South African government is still at a loss to explain how the impostor, whose identity remains a mystery, had not only breached security checks but had even gotten the job. MORE

Aug. 25, 2013

Lydia Callis, who rose to unexpected fame interpreting Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s statements during Hurricane Sandy, is approaching city organizations about expanding their accommodations for hearing-impaired people. MORE

Mar. 9, 2013

ABC Family, in first for commercial television channels in United States, broadcasts entire episode of show Switched at Birth in American Sign Language, with next to no oral dialogue; move forces many viewers to watch screen more carefully and pay undivided attention. MORE

Dec. 4, 2012

Advocates for the deaf are pushing to expand and standardize science-related sign language vocabulary; lack of a scientific vocabulary has long been a stumbling block for many deaf science students and their teachers, making it that much harder for the students to excel in science and pursue careers in it. MORE

Nov. 1, 2012

Lydia Callis, sign-language interpreter working for Mayor Michael R Bloomberg at televised news conferences updating New Yorkers on Hurricane Sandy, captures the hearts of Twitter fans; excerpts of tweets about her dance-like hand signing and emotive facial expressions described. MORE

Oct. 31, 2012

Lydia Callis, a sign-language interpreter and a fixture at Mayor Michael R Bloomberg’s Hurricane Sandy news briefings, catches the attention of the news media, and evidently the mayor himself, with her expressive style. MORE

Feb. 12, 2012

Budding crop of YouTube stars, many of whom are deaf or hearing-impaired, are hand-synching their way to online fame, performing hit songs using American Sign Language in videos that receive thousands of hits. MORE

Nov. 18, 2011

Twenty-nine Oregon football players fulfill their foreign language requirement by participating in the school's American Sign Language program, which they find intuitive after growing up using different signing systems on the field. MORE

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